The Baptist Bridge

By the grace of God, the Philippi Baptist Church shall embrace,

model, and share the love of God through Jesus Christ by the
power of the Holy Spirit.

Philippi Baptist Church, Philippi, WV 26416 December 2010

Inside this issue...

From the Pastor………………..........2,3

Remember in Prayer………...………...7

Announcements. .…………..…. .... ….5

ABW……………………………………..4

Letters…………………………………..5

Getting to know………………….…….6

Calender…………………………...Insert
Retired Ministers & Missionaries
Offering …………………....Insert

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107 Church Street Philippi, WV 26416 (304) 457-3206 philippibaptist@frontier.com

Rev. Jon Villers, Pastor
Lisa Dadisman, Secretary
 From the Pastor
Dear Philippi Baptist Family,

I want to wish each and every one a blessed Advent and Christmas Season. I am excited about
celebrating Jesus' birth with you in this community for the first time! As we mentioned in church
already, a big thank you goes out to all those who decorated the sanctuary and beyond on the
Monday of Thanksgiving Break! Even though it was odd to be singing O Come, O Come Em-
manuel in November and seemed a bit early to break out the orange parachuting santa tie, I am
grateful to be sharing this with our new church family. I wanted to highlight a few of the many
offerings that I have been made aware of during the next month. We start off this Saturday, Dec.
4th with the Men's Prayer Breakfast as we gather in the Medallion Restaurant back room at
7:30am. We seem to just about fill one side of that room every time we meet and would invite
any of our men and boys to join us for this special Christmas gathering. Our Second Sunday of
Advent on Dec. 5th finds us with the opportunity to attend a free Christmas Festival in the Wil-
cox Chapel at 7:30pm. Among the many groups that will share the sounds of Christmas will be
the A-B College Hand Bell group of which Koreen, my wife, has joined and loves doing! Dec.
8th at the Gazebo on the Courthouse Lawn, there will be a memorial service sponsored by
Mountain Hospice and our own Philippi Baptist Chancel Choir will be a part of the service!
Dec. 11th at 6pm the Barbour County Ministerial Association is sponsoring a Christmas Memo-
rial Service at Wilcox Chapel. They are inviting the community to come. Dec. 12th along with
the third Sunday of Advent finds the Chancel Choir sharing their Christmas Concert in the
10:30am service here at Philippi Baptist. Our Church Christmas Dinner will then follow this
time of worship. Dianna Wright and friends will be catering the meal. Financial donations will be
accepted to defray the expenses of this most generous offering! The Fourth Sunday of Advent
and our Christmas Sunday will conclude with a 6pm performance of our Youth and Children
Christmas Program on December 19th. Please make special plans to come support the leaders
of tomorrow as they lead us in worship that evening.

Now you put those opportunities in with the many other family gatherings and events offered this
year and you will have a pretty full schedule! I am thankful that we can share this time of the year
with you all. Peace on Earth, Good will toward Men. I challenge you to make this your motto
over the next days and months to come. We have been called to be peacemakers. We are using
a new advent hymn throughout this season. May we let it prepare our hearts for the coming
King!!

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 Israel's Hope / On Your Journey To Bethlehem
Jeremy Dunn, Dan Wilt
Verse 1
Verse 3

Ancient times held a slaving people,

"House of Bread," no distinguished namesake
Yearning for deliverance;
No great city to draw you on,
Long deferred in their hope, grown weaker,
Humble streets lead her pilgrims homeward,
Hope is stirring in one small town
Bread of Life in her arms she holds
Truth and Grace, arrayed in straw
Truth and Grace, arrayed in straw
Israel's Hope, in a manger lay
Israel's Hope, in a manger lay
Lift your eyes to the star before you,
Set your heart on the star above you,
On your journey to Bethlehem
On your journey to Bethlehem

Verse 2
Verse 4

Angels stride through the sky above you

Here you stand with the host around you,
Voices murmur in disbelief
All believing we see the stall;
Some they fall to the ground in worship
"Come, Lord come" is our song united,
Others blinded by cynic schemes
Lord of Life, we've come to call
Truth and Grace, arrayed in straw
Truth and Grace, arrayed in straw
Israel's Hope, in a manger lay
Israel's Hope, in a manger lay
Steel your gaze on the star that guides
you, Find your faith clothed in stars around
you,
On your journey to Bethlehem

© 2010 Dunn and Wilt Music

Artist: Jeremy Dunn / Dan Wilt / Album: Israel's Hope / (p)(c)2010 Dunn & Wilt Music

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 Women of Faith
Columbus, Ohio
April 29-30, 2011
All area women are invited to join a group
going to Women of Faith in April. It is a
non-denominational event with wonderful
music and motivational speakers.
If you get your tickets with us you will
receive the group rate of $89.00 which
includes tickets for Friday and Saturday,
and lunch both days. You can come and
go as you please, but the whole event
is worth experiencing!
Come join us for
a great time at Women of Faith! For more
information ask Linda Long for paperwork.
Last year’s Women of Faith that was held
in Columbus included singers Sandi
Patty, Stephen Curtis Chapman, Mandisa
and the Women of Faith Praise and Worship
singers. Speakers included Andy Andrews,
Patsy Clairmont, Anita Renfroe, Lisa
Whelchel, Marilyn Meberg, and Nicole
Johnson. Women of Faith has a web site:
www.womenoffaith.com
Columbus, Ohio will be hosting “Imagine”
for 2011.
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Dianna Wright and Friends
will prepare the Christmas
Dinner for our church family
following the worship service
on December 12. No covered
dishes, salads or desserts are
needed. Just bring yourself
and your family and plan to
enjoy this special Christmas
gift from Dianna and Friends.
Donations to help defray the
cost of groceries can be made
on the 12th.
The Retired Ministers and Missionaries
Offering (RMMO)
On Sunday, December 5, 2010, our congre-
gation will receive the Retired Ministers and
Missionaries Offering (RMMO).
The RMMO is an annual ABCUSA offering
that provides (1) “Thank You” checks to
more than 3,000 retired American Baptist
ministers and missionaries or their widowed
spouses, based on 15 or more years of ABC
service, and (2) emergency and other finan-
cial assistance based on need.
Our 2010 goal is $ 1,200.00.
Please help us remember them with love
and give with gratitude.
Poinsettia
Price List
6” $ 8.50
8” $ 17.50
10 ” $ 25.00
Please have orders in by
December 9th or 10th .
Every Member Canvass update: Announcements
As of November 28, 2010 the Church
has received 34 pledges toward the 2011
operating budget. A total of $117,630.00
in financial committments have been re-
ceived toward the challenge budget,
which was revised during the congrega- Mr. Terry Wilfong has volunteered
tional business meeting on 11/21/2010 to to remove any snow on the side
$160,599.30. Thus we have received walk in front of the church during
pledges of just over 73% toward the the winter. However, volunteers are
challenge budget. We will continue to needed to shovel snow from the
accept additional financial pledges to-
steps and to keep the walkway to the
ward the 2011 operating budget through
the end of the year. May the Good Lord second front entrance to the church
bless the gifts and the givers in 2011! clear. If you can assist with this
Craig Cobb, Chair, Every Member Can- project please notify the
vass church secretary,
Upcoming Events Lisa Dadisman or Jean Roy
(457-2565)
Saturday, Dec. 4, 7:30am Men’s Prayer Breakfast
Medallion

Sunday, Dec. 5, 5-6pm Christmas Program

Practice

Saturday, Dec. 11, Special Chancel Choir

Practice

Sunday, Dec. 12, Christmas Chancel Choir

Presentation followed with Christmas Dinner.

Saturday, Dec. 18, 5-7pm Christmas Program

Practice

Saturday, Dec. 18, 6:30pm Fidelity Class

Christmas party
Join us on Dec. 19, at 6pm
Sunday, Dec. 19, 6pm to watch our Children
Children & Youth Christmas Program and Youth Christmas
Program.

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 With a Song in Her Heart

Anyone who knows Mary Boyer knows that music
is at the heart of her life and her witness. She actu-
ally became a performing singer when she was in
sixth grade, and in high school she sang in a 400-
member choir, becoming part of a special group
called the “Sonies.”
Mary is the middle child and the middle girl of
seven siblings She was born in Fort Thomas, Ken-
tucky, and went through public schools there. Her
family and her husband’s all attended Highland
Heights Baptist Church, so she met Rob when she
was just three years old, They were, indeed, child-
hood sweethearts! Married in 1979 while Rob was
a recruiter for the Navy and while Mary was work-
ing in the cancer treatment center at St. Luke’s
Hospital, the moved to Norfolk, Virginia, when
Rob returned to his earlier assignment as a “plank
owner,” a member of the original crew on the air-
craft carrier Nimitz. Mary worked for a while in a
physician’s office and then “did everything” in a
florist shop. In one of the annual shows, Mary
smiles, “I played the role of a bride.”
Mary is known also as an expert cake decorator.
“Once when I was unemployed, we were in
J.C.Penney’s, and Rob saw a decorating set. He
thought I might enjoy getting into that, and I did.
I took one class and really liked it, so I took an-
other class and another up to the advanced level.
That hobby has been with me for twenty-one
years.”
Having served on many committees and boards at
Philippi Baptist Church, Mary now serves as chair
of the Board of Worship. “I see us,” she says,
“growing and changing, broadening our horizons,
exploring new means of worship. We’re moving
in a positive direction, and I strongly believe it
will continue. We’re doing the right things.”

Retired from the Navy because of a heart problem,

Rob had heart surgery in 1989. It was during his
recuperation that the Boyers became foster parents
for Nick, whom they later adopted and who died
tragically in 1993. They had moved to Philippi
because of the opening of federal government fa-
cilities nearby and because of the prospects of jobs
there. Rob went back to school and earned an as-
sociate degree in computer technology, which re-
sulted in work with IMTS, a partner of Lockheed-
Martin with federal contracts. Mary landed a job
directly with the federal government and has main-
tained that position for seventeen years.
6
 Please Remember in Prayer... Happy Birthday
A-B College faculty, staff and students, Caroline Jett
Georgian Allen, Michael Clyburn, Martha Rose Roy
Albert Carman, Blaine Corder, Judi Funk Beth Longo
Jim Friend, Otilia Franke, Carl Gant, Emily Wilkins
Eric Davidson
Harmony Grogan, Ben Guido, Jeremy Hunt,
Melissa Franke
The Klaus Family, Don Miller, Michele Jean Ellen Irvine
Moore, Greg , Kasey and Violet Mouser, Glenn Sweet
Brenda & Gary Price, Mary Reynolds, Don Jonathan Franke
Schierling, Vangie Shaffer, Eric Hebb
Dean Davidson
Mary Withers
Jon Griffin
Ken Yount
Carla Springer
Marsha Smith
Dianna Wright
Kelly Runion
Danny Franke
Unspoken requests for family members, Herb Smith
unsaved, person and community con- Chris Mulneix
cerns, those with job and home loss, fi- Koreen Villers
Carolyn Davis
nancial difficulties. Our national, state, Richard Shearer
and country leaders and officials. Vic- Ken Waddell
tims, the families and friends of crime,
war and violence throughout our coun-
try. Military personnel and their fami-
lies throughout the world. Relatives
and friends of those serving our coun-
try: Amanda Howard, Tim Jenkins,
Chris Mossburg and Taylor Smith.
William & Shirley Thorne
Paul & Sharon Hebb
David & Carol Kidd
Olin & Marj Campbell
Steve& Susan Markwood
Thank you to all for making the Clarence & Dianna Wright
Thanks(for)giving food drive a great suc- Don & Barbara Smith,
Fred & Amy Funk
cess! We were able to circle the entire sanctu-
ary with food items and gave a prayer of
blessings during the worship service on No-
vember 21st. Special Thanks to the Youth for
boxing the food up.

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Philippi Baptist Church
107 Church Street Nonprofit Organization
Philippi, West Virginia 26416 U.S. POSTAGE
Permit NO. 36
Philippi, WV 26416

Join us as we celebrate
Christmas
Sunday,Decemer19 at 6pm
Featuring our Children and
Youth. 8